Film Details

That the story of Sixto Rodruigez and his acclaim and curious areas of success has slipped us by seems unbelievable in an age where the Internet seemingly tells us everything.

Here was an American musician who released two critically acclaimed albums in the 1970s, produced by reputable industry types, and after they failed in his native country, faded back into working manual labour jobs.

What he didn't realise is that in South Africa, he was bigger than Elvis.

His albums had found their way to the country, and during a time where music was seen as a popular vehicle to protest Apartheid, his controversial and honest songs found a home.

His best known hit is 'Sugar man', taken from his album Cold Fact.

While the South Africans loved the artist known simply as Rodruigez (or sometimes Jesus or Sixto Rodruigez), they thought he had died after committing suicide on stage at the end of an unsuccessful gig.

'Searching for Sugar Man' tells the story of the two South African music fanatics (Stephen Segerman and Craig Bartholomew-Strydom ) that sought to research Rodruigez, and perhaps find out definitively how he died.

They wanted to give the 500,000 music fans that bought Cold Fact some reliable information about the enigmatic man who inadvertently defined an era in their country.

They never expected to get a call from him one night at 1am telling them he was alive, living in Detroit, and working a gritty house demolition job.

The documentary tells of a time, not that long ago (early to mid 1990s) where the Internet wasn't available to answer everything.

People had to study lyrics for landmarks that might indicate where the musician lived, and telephone old record producers for information.

If the search for Rodruigez started today, most of the answers could probably be delivered in a matter of hours, but the film documents the laborious and satisfying process to track him down in the 90s.

The film reaches new levels of incredulity when Rodruigez is convinced to tour South Africa in 1998, and amateur footage shot by his daughter shows her father playing six sold-out concerts to 10,000 people per gig in Cape Town.

The fact this journey was started, made and beautifully resolved in such a dedicated way by Segerman and Bartholomew-Strydom is a fascinating window for the younger generation into what life was like less than 20 years ago.

But at the heart of the film is simply one of the world's best music stories, cleverly told.

A demure, talented musician who thought he had failed in his country, visits far flung South Africa as an older man to realise the enormity of his success.